Latino Daily News

Man Claiming to be Son of Cartel Boss Arrested in Mexico

Two men, one of whom claims to be a son of Caballeros Templarios drug cartel boss Servando Gomez Martinez, have been arrested in the western Mexican state of Michoacan, the state Public Safety Secretariat said.

“Christian Salinas Ruiz and Luis Alfredo Aguilera Esquivel” were arrested thanks to a coordinated operation staged by state police and the Michoacan Attorney General’s Office, the secretariat said in a Twitter post.

“Luis Alfredo identified himself as a son of Servando Gomez Martinez,” the secretariat said, adding that a press conference would be held on Thursday to discuss the arrests.

Federal forces apparently did not participate in the arrest of the cartel boss’s son.

Gomez Martinez, known as “La Tuta,” is considered one of the four top leaders of the Caballeros Templarios, a quasi-religious criminal organization.

The cartel was formed following the death of Familia Michoacana drug cartel boss Nazario Moreno in a shootout with the security forces in 2010.

The gang quickly took control of the illegal drug trade in Michoacan and expanded into other states.

The Caballeros Templarios, which deals in both synthetic and natural drugs, commits murders, stages kidnappings and runs extortion rackets that target business owners and transport companies.

The cartel uses Michoacan’s 270 kilometers (168 miles) of coastline to smuggle chemical drug precursors for the production of synthetic drugs into Mexico.

The federal government deployed soldiers and police in Michoacan on Jan. 13 in an effort to end the wave of drug-related violence in the state.

Dionisio Loya Plancarte, one of the cartel’s top leaders, was arrested by federal forces on Jan. 27.